Saugerties Haibuns
On Hudson River day I took my class, “Reading and Writing
the Hudson” at Bard College to visit the Saugerties
Lighthouse. Lighthouse keeper, Patrick Landewe was kind
enough to give us a tour of the lighthouse—up into the
observation tower! I asked the students to write Haibuns in
response to this experience—the haibun includes prose and
poetry. The “poems” here are haiku.
What follows are a few of the writings.
Thanks - Susan Fox Rogers
The path wound. Wet spots and high water line, the tide comes
up, marked by residual plant particles.
First cold morning of the year and the quiet waters sits still.
Serene and frigid. Slowly lapping the dock's edge, stirring lightly with a breeze.
A single boat bobs a little off, man and dog sit like hawks, watching water.
Across the water Clermont stands, white houses with cascading lawns cordon off the
river.
Prominent on Hudson, Saugerties Lighthouse towers. Remnant of river days. Contrast to
muddy path.
Inside clean teal trim,
Stark wall to grey blue water,
Quiet creaks of stair.
The pinnacle of light rests atop the rounded chamber.
Try to listen for the days past here, murmuring wind and pariah's eyes.
--Katherine Rose
****
Grey brick set on round stone foundation. Eagles crossing. Wind Shimmies in ears.
Which way is North? Cold wind down from Albany. Woman sings, "Daddy!" Holding
onto orange fishing bucket.
Woman sings "Daddy come!"
Land spits out to the lighthouse
Dad stumbles, "hold-on!"
Fake white roses in parlor. Preserving history in pictures, idleness, and cacti. A Historic
preservation Nation. Ancient music hums in kitchen. No waking the lighthouse. Idleness
amidst expanse. Loneliness and fear of boredom outside Sauggerties town. Hudson
waters crash on chiseled foundation. Fake white flowers safe and resting inside.
--Julia Wallace
Saugerties Haibuns
****
Arms crossed tightly while walking. Wind constant. Steady whaap of windbreaker
behind. Hollow wooden sound of Japanese sandals as we clattered over the boardwalk to
Saugerties Light House. Then a solid stone base, thick and sturdy, and seated squarely on
top a brick wall, mottled peach and grey. We get to go in. It smells like a gas stove and
little hallways. There are old maps in the kitchen. The stairs creak under our
cautiousness. Upstairs a red spot of a geranium in the window in front of layers of grey
water and sky.
Up once more twice up
Teeth dry from smiling in the wind
Come round and point there
Up top my hair whips. Shy pillars of Rose Hill across the water, and a delicate spiders
tangle is the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge in the distance. Up top by the light I can see all
the boats coming.
--Annie Trowbridge
****
Growing up in a historic part of the country has spoiled me with the ability to see
preserved memories from our past, but it has not desensitized me to the significance of
these experiences. Each new place has a different story to tell of a time that we will only
be able to understand through stories and artifacts. It’s why it is so important to
appreciate and absorb all the history surrounding us. We become so involved in our own
lives that we fail to notice, especially in this Hudson Valley, how much there is to explore
around us. It’s often taken for granted.
Darkened skies above,
Brightened by a contained light.
A history found.
That’s why being able to see the Saugerties Lighthouse was such an exciting event. We
were able to see how the lighthouse functioned when it was initially built, and how it has
changed in its present. Through pictures, preservation, and a little museum, the evolution
of the lighthouse has been documented. Even still it is making new history as it is one of
four lighthouses to even offer overnight stays. In just a few hours, I was able to learn so
much about just one landmark in the vast Hudson River.
--Victoria Castiglione
****
Saugerties Haibuns
In Saugerties the lighthouse blinks thrice
thrice in 1869
three cheers in amsterdam 1609
building brooklyn with burnt red bricks
plastic clay swept from the river’s depths
watching cold wind sweep
ominous clouds through grey sky
through billowing sails
calm waters on the surface, but beware, currents lay beneath
the blue bellied bird knows this all
the deer may not be so lucky
hunters rifles sounding
wave goodbye to the valley’s shores
trains rumbling waking many through the night
--Katherine Sopko
****
A winded morning at the Saugerties lighthouse,
leaves yellowing in their own sweet death,
hills cambering toward the gray-green of the Hudson River.
The tide laps at stone,
A brown dog barks from the boatTivoli in sight.
Life here consists of woodstoves,
artifacts from days spent lighting the path of those
who ride the currents of water and wind.
--Audrey Batchelder
****
Like termites, the river ate out the inside.
Abandoned, the structure had no defense
The cement wash eventually betrayed the brick
The river lead the invasion
and each winter followed suit
But still there it was
Feeble and lightless
Giving way stubbornly
The once ill lighthouse
now stands, longing for the lost
Saugerties Haibuns
old wooden tender
The north side remains windowless,
blushing in places,
Ten thousand new bricks later.
Once an island, veering ships from hidden mud
Now automated, electric, with fresh yellow trim
home to the couples daily reenactment
to the weekenders imagination.
It mindfully grips the mainland.
--Bea Abbott
****
30 feet renews the browns, the reds.
Dead matter cries a warning, extends an invitation.
The lighthouse surveys and considers.
Its bell sings and confirms.
Altitude is a sickness, a cure.
Proportions they lie
Elevation is
sacred
As long as you fall
On top of the mountain, only seeing mountain.
On top of the river, reflecting a great silvery silence.
--Doug Friedman